Alien Community (Pete Namlook and Jonah Sharp): Alien Community 2

Pete Namlook's incredibly prolific career in electronic music of diverse stylings through his FAX (well, FAX +49-69/450464, to be exact) label includes some fantastic excursions into a universe (space being an obsession for Peter Kuhlmann) of sound that continue to be a fascination for this blogger.  That started with the Outland and Psychonavigation series of recordings carried out with Bill Laswell, but has expanded, when discs can be had at a somewhat reasonable price, to other releases.

Jonah Sharp, who also collaborated with Laswell, hails from Scotland and has long resided in San Francisco and was a jazz drummer before embarking on his electronic endeavors, notably through his Spacetime Continuum moniker.  As Alien Community, Namlook and Sharp, on this second release produced at the latter's San Francisco studio, launched "A Long and Perilous Voyage," which, though it is technically divided into a dozen five-minute sections, is an hour-long trip, on various levels.

Ambient techno is probably the most common term used for music like this, it was 1994 and that time was certainly replete with recordings of this general impress, and it's hard to know who makes what contributions, though one reviewer, EMCritic, refers to Namlook's synthesizer pads and manipulation of transistors along with Sharp's electronic rhythms and "spaced-out acid tweaks."  An AllMusic review of the pairing of the two AC recordings calls the music "transcendental" and refers to the second as "clearly a showcase for Sharp" calling it "driving music for flying cars" as well as something of an homage to Brian Eno.

For this listener, there is less concern about the devices used and who contributed what elements than about the enjoyment of being transported on this electronic musical journey, though what the peril is would perhaps be good to know.  There is, in the evolution of the piece and extremely quiet as it is for the opening moments, enough variety in the sounds, including percussive components, to easily hold the attention.  As observers have noted, it ca be somewhat challenging to find FAX recordings at prices that aren't too jarring, but it does take some patience.  In this case, it was well worth it.  

Henry Threadgill Ensemble: The Other One

This 2022 live recording for Pi Recordings, dedicated to the great percussionist Milford Graves, shows the masterful composer Henry Threadgill demonstrating his immense talents in the world of chamber music.  This work, with the title "Of Valence" in three movements, with the first and third divided into sections and a finale, while the middle one is a continuous piece, reflects all the intricacy, unusual harmonies, melodic expressiveness and experiments with sound that mark Threadgill's long, productive career.

He doesn't perform on this, which was recorded as part of a multi-media presentation (yes, there was another set called "The One"), but he conducts the dozen musicians, including those playing alto and tenor saxes, clarinet, bassoons and tuba; cellos, viola and violin, a drummer who added other percussion and electronics and a pianist.  Threadgill has not often worked with the latter instrument, but it opens the work and establishes a fine introduction for a piece that melds composition with improvisation.

The Pi website for the album notes that the composer "was driven to create this new large work based on his observations of the exodus of people from New York City during the Covid pandemic," but, specifically, what was left behind in terms of trash and other debris in Threadgill's East Village neighborhood "and what this reveals about human transience, rampant consumerism, and a disposable society.  Other aspects of the performance involved the projection of paintings and photographs, video, his voice pre-recorded as a choir, electronic sounds, Threadgill singing while playing the piano and his prose recitations about the effects of technology on behavior.  It was added that the attitude of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) regarding the approaches of its members to art and music are well-exemplified here.

The Other One is dedicated to the great percussionist Milford Graves, who was dedicated to the ways in which the heart beat and music are melded, and this is heard in the lengthy second movement, during which a string trio plays while cardiologist-recorded playbacks of their heartbeats provided them with the tempo.  Drummer Craig Weinrib, moreover, had transducers connected to his cymbals and electronic impulses gave these a different effect in timbre.  It was noted that Threadgill's memoir, Easily Slip Into Another World, was published in conjunction with this release, and that book is very highly recommended, as is this remarkable recording—which is another stunning addition to a vast and versatile catalog!